The Capital Region's burgeoning video game industry could benefit from tax credits and the creation of "game clusters" across the state being proposed by a New York City legislator.

Sen. Martin J. Golden, a Republican from Brooklyn, has been promoting the Digital Game Development and Incentive Act in the Legislature, with the aim of boosting the state's profile in the video game development industry.

Golden's bill would create 11 "game clusters" across the state affiliated with universities that offer video game development degrees. So-called anchor tenants of the cluster would be eligible for tax breaks up to $7 million. The legislation would also support high-speed Internet grants, an annual statewide video game competition and a state video game summit.

The Capital Region is home to several video game development companies, many of which were started by former students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, which has its own video game program.

Vicarious Visions is the largest, with 200 employees. The company is part of Activision Blizzard of Santa Monica, Calif., a company that publishes the Call of Duty video game franchise and had nearly $5 billion in revenue last year. Games developed by Vicarious Visions, started by an RPI grad and his Harvard-educated brother, have had retail sales of $3 billion.

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Another large company is 1st Playable Productions of downtown Troy, which was also started by an RPI grad.

And there are even small companies such as Hybris Studios, also of Troy, which last month launched a game called Joint Pain for iPad, Mac and PC users.

Raffaele Mele, who runs the company, hadn't heard of Golden's bill yet. But he thinks it is great for the industry.

"Government incentives would be very beneficial for growing the game industry in New York," Mele said. "Due to the competitive nature of the business and scarce funding options, government incentives would help startups greatly."

Golden pushed the idea with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's economic development commissioner, Ken Adams, on Monday at a budget hearing on economic development in Albany.

Adams, who was testifying before a legislative panel that included Golden, said he had shared the proposal with the governor's office.

"You have put your finger on a great economic opportunity," Adams told Golden. "This is an idea that could work in any area of the state. It's all digital."